The Faber Book of Exploration

A fascinating book. The bravery of these explorers is beyond belief, not to mention the hardships they endured. A brilliant bedtime read.

I found this fascinating, what an amazing book.Content 5 stars, text size 1 star - the print size is hard work, the text has had to be crammed into the paperback version.As this is one I want to keep on my bookshelf, I've decided to swap it for the larger hardback.

I think its a great book from Benedict Allen. Presenting human exploration through the centuries, all over the world and their unbelievable stories.A must for every traveller indeed.

Interesting to dip into.

This a fantastic collection of hugely varied writing about travel. From the famous names of the great age of exploration, through to lesser known, but equally interesting tales of daring and challenge. It covers over 1500 years of travellers tales, which alone makes this a very unusual book. I recommend this to anyone interested in travel or travel writing, as I do not think there is another book quite like it. The standard of the writing is variable, but all is interesting.

The selection of extracts from diaries, journals etc is compendious and wonderfully broad in its scope. As for the ludicrous criticism of the font size, I can only think that the particular curmudgeon has glaucoma or cataracts, as the font size of the actual extracts is exactly that of any normal work of fiction or non-fiction. The short headers to each entry, in the smaller script, is still to this middle-aged reader eminently decipherable, without some magnifying monocle hanging from his myopic eyes being called upon to assist. A really terrific anthology. Really terrific.

I presume Benedict Allen who compiled this book had a say in the format/design of the finished product. If my presumption is correct why, oh why, did he allow the Faber & Faber personnel to settle on a type size, I would guess 8pt, which is just about readable. There are in fact sections of this book which have been set in even smaller mini type. A great number of readers will struggle when attempting to read this book. What a pity.I was looking forward to perusing/reading this book but my enthusiasm was short lived due to Faber & Faber's very strange decision outlined in my initial paragraph.I regret that any comment on my part with regard to the stories in this book would be influenced by my disgust with the "appearance" of the pages.

A really good compendium of first hand travelogues spanning the ages and the globe - as others have mentioned the selections are great but the small point size makes this a real struggle to read for any length of time. Nevertheless, a highly recommended collection and a perfect companion to Eric Newby's excellent 'Book of Travellers' Tales'

Small prints make reading difficult. Difficult to read the whole book. You can pick and choose pieces

If you like to escape then this is a great book. Easily jump into my top five of ALL time. I have gifted many of these. I have also read about 15 other books that this book references. A wonderful find.

Myth, history, and travel writing in one.

I have loaned mine out, and sent one to a friend. Lots of gripping reading here; even if you're familiar with some of the accounts. My only gripe is the small print.

Accurate description and speedy service.